The Secrets We Keep by Mia Hayes

When Desperate Housewives takes a dark turn down Mental Illness Lane…

The Secrets We Keep by Mia Hayes

Genres: Women’s Fiction
Published: 2nd July, 2018
Goodreads | Bookdepository | Amazon UK
Series: N/A
Rating: 4

After fleeing her city life for something quieter in the suburbs, Elizabeth Mavery grapples with her new existence. When she’s not going to Costco or day-drinking with her best friend, she’s trying to escape her past. And it seems to work – until an anonymous gossip blog begins spilling the women of Waterford’s darkest secrets.
Now, the blurred conversations and blank spots in Elizabeth’s mind give way to panic and anxiety. If her secrets – like a hospitalization for bipolar disorder and a suicide attempt – don’t stay buried, she faces social shunning. Because after all, life in Waterford must look Instagram perfect at all times.
With her mental health in tatters and her marriage on the brink of imploding, Elizabeth fights to protect her family, her reputation, and her sanity. The past, however, has a way of not being forgotten.

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Elizabeth and her family lives in Waterford, where everyone is fake, and most women spend their time drinking and gossiping all day. Sounds lovely? Meanwhile I’m spending most of my time sitting at home by myself, and talking to the cat. #perspective

Elizabeth has her fair share of secrets to hide, so when someone starts a gossip blog about the people of Waterford, things aren’t looking very peachy for her. Her mental illness and past suicide attempt doesn’t really fit the style of Waterford that much after all.

Despite the fact that I figured out the identity of the secretive blogger pretty early on, I was totally addicted to this story. When I say addicted, I mean, I spent all day reading, and even refused to cook dinner, which resulted in me having to eat chicken on its own because my other half unknowingly spread coriander over everything else, and if you ever read my bio, you know how I feel about that.

It was like high school all over again, but instead of bitchy teenage girls we got a bunch of middle aged, drunken ladies who got suburb politics down to perfection. On top of the food chain you got the Bitch Brigade, headed up by Karen who basically runs the town. Then we get the Periphery Girls who are trying everything they can to become one of their minions. Why? I have no idea, but they sure as hell are dying to get into the inner sanctum.

The story is narrated by Elizabeth, who due to her medication she takes for her bipolar disorder washed down by prosecco and red wine can’t remember much most of the time, so you can imagine the uncomfortable feel that just keeps building up as things first turn weird, then unnerving, culminating in a tragic event that shakes her to the core and the poor woman is not even sure why. Jason, her husband is there to support her. Whenever it’s convenient for him, according to Elizabeth. Asshole? Or just a tired husband who can’t keep up with his wife’s ups and downs?

Can you build true friendship in an environment like Waterford? Who can you trust? Who is shagging whose husband? Why do grown ass women seek the company of fake friends and the validation from people they don’t give a toss about? Read The Secrets We Keep to find out – and if you did, do tell me, because I have no bloody clue.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, but the opinions are my own.